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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. What does M'Vy say is Dab's problem?

2. What threat does Tree make, when she and M'Vy disagree about the funeral?

3. What does M'Vy know will happen when she takes Dab to the hospital?

4. How does the narrator characterize Silversmith?

5. What does Miss Pricherd say will happen to Dab's things?

Short Essay Questions

1. What does M'Vy tell Tree about her brothers and Dab?

2. Describe Brother Rush's house, when Brother Rush takes Tree and Dab there.

3. What prompts Tree to decide to leave home?

4. What does Tree tell M'Vy about Dab's funeral?

5. How is Dab described when Tree visits him in chapter 11?

6. What new information does Tree learn about Brother Rush's death, when they are checking in at the hospital?

7. What happens when M'Vy follows Tree into the little room?

8. What does Tree see from the back seat of the car, when no one knows she is there?

9. What does Tree see when she takes off Brother Rush's gloves?

10. How is the relationship with Tree and Miss Pricherd different at the end of the book?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

What is missing from this book? What should have been covered or presented that was not? What is the effect of this absence? Describe an element that ought to have been covered, and explain why it would have made the book stronger.

Essay Topic 2

M'Vy tells Tree that she had not told her much about her family because she wanted to keep a closed fist to beat fate. Does Tree try to beat fate, or how does she try to deal with fate's effect on her life? Who else has techniques for dealing with fate? How successful do these other techniques seem to be?

Essay Topic 3

Many stories of people living in poor circumstances are centered on the possibility that one day they'll live better lives, especially when children are involved, since everyone wants to think that children raised in poverty will be better taken care of in the future. What role does this storyline play in "Sweet Whispers, Brother Rush"? What hope do we have for Tree's future, and how does the story encourage us to believe that her future will be better than the present?

(see the answer keys)

This section contains 835 words (approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page) View a FREE sample